I’m angry about dementia, especially Alzheimer’s. The statistics are horrifying. According to Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI):
“Someone in the world develops dementia every 3 seconds. There are over 55 million people worldwide living with dementia in 2020. This number will almost double every 20 years, reaching 78 million in 2030 and 139 million in 2050. . .
Dementia is the second most feared disease. Cancer is No. 1. Cancer is caused by normal cells failing to screen out mutations. Mutated cancer cells are crazy. If they are successful, they die along with their host. Why even make the effort?
Dementia is less well understood, but since it happens to people over 65 mainly, everyone theorizes that cell deterioration in the brain is mainly responsible. Neurons that keep out plaques and tangles function less well. Plaque “garbage” gets in. When plaques and tangles get to the point they inhibit information passing between neurons, memory and bodily functions fail. Dementia, like cancer, slowly kills its host.
One thing is certain: WE ALL GET OLD – if we’re lucky. And a large percentage of us will suffer from dementia, 13% over age 65 and a whopping 50% over age 85. Meanwhile, scientists are working on keeping us alive until age 120. Big Pharma, at least, likes this idea. But be realistic: 35 years with Alzheimer’s would not be a good thing.
There are pills and surgeries to attack cancers and heart disease, prolonging life and also prolonging good living. But there’s really NOTHING out there for Alzheimer’s patients. Not yet. If you get tested and the news is not good, you know that mental deterioration is in your future – and there’s nothing you can do about it. Pool laps and crossword puzzles are not going to stop it. In the end, you may not recognize your mate, your children, your own name. You will slowly return to infancy, depending on others to dress you, feed you and change your diapers.
There are a couple of drugs out there that seem to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, but there is much disagreement about them. One online site about the side effects of Donepezil (Aricept), for example, says straight out that patients have to weigh iffy improvement with the possible negative side effects: diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss, muscle cramps, increased mental confusion, bladder infections, breathing difficulties, low heart rate. Some caregiver reviews say that increased mental confusion remained after discontinuing the drug.
A blood test for Alzheimer’s is now being researched. The test supposedly identifies the condition years before symptoms start. If you test positive, is there anything you can do about it? No. Eating right, sleeping long, jogging and learning a new language are not going to prevent the condition from progressing when symptoms appear. The hope is that research will come up with cures that will work best if started early. “Hope” is not exactly reassuring.
Knowing you have Alzheimer’s is like knowing the exact day of your death. Horrifying. We can send a man to the moon, but we can’t prevent or cure dementia. Seems absurd to me.
If it takes celebrities to make people listen, here’s a totally random list of people who have died with dementia:
Sugar Ray Robinson, boxer
Rosa Parks, Civil Rights activist
E.B. White, “Charlotte’s Web” author
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nobel-prize-winning author
Alice Munroe, Nobel-prize-winning short-story writer
Pauline Phillips, “Dear Abby”
Tony Bennett, singer
Glenn Campbell, singer
Norman Rockwell, American artist
Sean Connery, “James Bond”
Robin Williams, “Mork”
Rita Hayworth, actor
James Stewart, actor
Peter Falk, “Colombo”
Ronald Reagan, president of the United States
Margaret Thatcher, prime minister of England
What started me on this Alzheimer’s diatribe was finding out that my favorite mystery writer, Edna Buchanan, is now in a nursing home suffering from dementia. This amazing Miami author and Pulitzer-prize winning police reporter wrote 16 books with twists and turns, complexity and literary style. To think of this woman as languishing in the last years of her life without the ability to read a book, much less write one, offends me to the core.
Everyone should be offended and demand that research money be lavished on the scientists who can lead us out of this demoralizing medical finale. Old age will still suck, but at least we’ll be able to retain our identities to deal with it.
1 Comment
Very well stated Jane. An accomplished writer and editor for The Wall Street Journal whom I had the pleasure of knowing lived out his time before eternity with Alzheimer’s. Stay well, Harriet, and God bless you always.